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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29628669">Trade</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37'>evilwriter37</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Febuwhump 2021 [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood, Episode: s08e08 Triple Cross, Gen, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Whump, Hurt Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Torture, Whipping, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:48:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,688</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29628669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Viggo breaks his deal with Hiccup, and Hiccup has to pay the price. The whole world will have to pay the price.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Febuwhump 2021 [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2134545</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Trade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prompt: "I wish I had never given you a chance."</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hiccup glared up from his cage. It wasn’t tall enough for him to stand, so he was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest. Usually one would be scared from being in a cage, but he was fuming. The man he was glaring up at was none other than Viggo Grimborn. Johann and Krogan flanked him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wish I had never given you a chance,” Hiccup sneered. And he </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>given Viggo a chance. He’d said that he would work with Hiccup to get Toothless the antidote and get the Dragon Eye and lenses back. And he’d betrayed him. Hiccup felt stupid. He should have seen it coming. This wasn’t one of his friends or allies. This was one of his worst enemies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Viggo patted the top of the cage. “Like I told you, Hiccup: you’re too good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hiccup had the urge to spit on him, but he didn’t know what would happen to him or Toothless, (who was in a separate cage), if he did that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you’re just a bastard,” Hiccup said. There were worse things he wanted to call Viggo, but he was sure the man would just laugh at him. “Like you’ve always been.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Viggo did indeed laugh. He even threw his head back with it. “Ah, well, that’s just your perspective.” He pulled his hand away from the cage. “I’ll see you later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, Viggo was leaving with Krogan and Johann. Hiccup was surprised the other two men didn’t want to gloat over finally having captured him. But, maybe the gloating would come later. But, before that happened, Hiccup had to find a way to escape.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just because you brought him in doesn’t mean you have any rights to him, Grimborn,” Johann said, looking displeased at Viggo’s suggestion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh really?” Viggo asked. He looked between Krogan and Johann. “Then do either of you have a better way to get him to talk?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Krogan smiled with his teeth. “I think I have some ways.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Viggo sighed. Torture wasn’t something he’d wanted for Hiccup, but he’d expected it when he’d turned his back on him like that. He supposed this was the blade going between the Dragon Rider’s shoulder blades. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine. And the dragon?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We kill it, obviously,” Johann answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why not make a profit off of it?” Viggo questioned. He’d thought of selling Toothless before, and, well, he wasn’t actually dying, so why not sell him and make a good fortune?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johann rolled his eyes. “Is money the only thing that matters to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Viggo’s fingers twitched. He wanted to pull his dagger, but he wouldn’t. He needed to work with these men, despite the fact that they had tried killing him once already. His continued survival depended on it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it isn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good.” Johann looked a little more pleased. “Now, let’s get the boy.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Hiccup did </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> like the situation he was in. He was chained up standing with his shirt off and his prosthetic missing. He hated that his enemies could take his mobility aid away like that, that they could just steal the ability to walk away from him. It made him so angry. But, even worse, was the anger he felt at Viggo. Toothless was going to die and it was all his fault. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Krogan stroked the nine-tails whip in his hand. That made fear break into Hiccup’s anger, ice working to chill the fire of fury. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, this should be fun,” Hiccup said sarcastically, adjusting himself in his chains. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It will be for me,” Krogan said, a cruel smirk on his face. He circled around Hiccup, snapped the whip in the air, making him flinch. “Now, you’re going to tell us where you keep your Dragon Eye lenses.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why would I do that?” Hiccup asked, though the threat of torture was very real. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Krogan chuckled, shook his head. “Are you always this sarcastic?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Hiccup answered. “Why? Don’t like it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d gag you if we didn’t need information from you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hiccup was about to say another snarky remark, but was stopped as the tails of the whip snapped at his back. He yelled as flesh was rent open and blood spilled out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johann laughed, came closer, folded his arms across his chest. “Oh, how I’ve always wanted to hear you scream in pain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hiccup wanted to spit at him, but he was too far away. Really, all his enemies deserved to be spit on, especially Viggo, who was watching from a dark corner and not saying anything. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The whip came down again, and all thought left Hiccup’s head. There was just pain. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gentlemen, I don’t think he’s going to talk,” Viggo said, stepping out of his dark corner. He hadn’t liked watching Hiccup’s torture, but it was becoming clear that they weren’t going to get anything out of the young man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I still might be able to make him,” Krogan said. He’d set down the whip and drawn a knife.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Viggo shook his head. “You don’t know his perseverance like I do.” He looked to Hiccup. He was standing, panting, sweating, with his head hanging down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm…” Johann tapped his chin. “You do have a point.” If anyone knew about Hiccup’s mettle it would be Johann, who’d seen him grow up and master dragons. “What’s your idea, Grimborn? Certainly you have one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We trade him and the dragon for the lenses,” Viggo said. “Certainly the Riders are searching for him by now. They’d want him back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I thought Toothless was going to die,” Hiccup said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Viggo shook his head. “A little lie to get you to work with me,” he admitted. Hiccup lifted his head, looked at him a little wide-eyed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a good idea,” Johann said. “But what will stop him from attacking again?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, he’ll certainly need time to heal,” Viggo responded. “And by that point we will have found the King of Dragons.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johann nodded. “Alright. Let’s send the Riders a Terror Mail.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Hiccup stood with his hands tied in front of him. His tunic hadn’t been given back to him. The Riders would get to see his atrocious wounds. He didn’t know how long he’d been whipped for. It was difficult to stand, but he could see their dragons on the horizon, growing ever closer. And they would surely have the lenses with them. When it came to rescuing one of their own, they wouldn’t try to pull any schemes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toothless was beside him, muzzled and chained, but that didn’t keep Hiccup from petting him and leaning on him for support. He was exhausted, body wanting to lose consciousness from the pain. His back was still on fire despite the whipping having been hours ago. He would need treatment once he got back to the Edge. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Riders landed on the beach, far enough away to not make the three men who had hurt Hiccup suspicious of anything. Astrid began coming over, and she held a familiar satchel. She had the lenses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give us Hiccup back,” Astrid told them, firmly, like it was a command, though no one could command these men. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And how do we know you have the lenses?” Johann asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Astrid stepped forward a little, but still out of range of any close-range weapons. There were Hunters on the cliffs, arrows nocked to their bows. She wouldn’t be able to defend herself from those. She opened the bag and showed them. Hiccup could see the glint of the lenses in the dying sunlight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good. Now give them to us.” Johann held out his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Astrid drew the bag back. “And how do I know you’ll give us Hiccup and Toothless?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve always been a smart girl, Astrid,” Johann said. “Fine. We’ll trade at the same time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trade. Hiccup was being traded for an object like he wasn’t human. It hurt him, but not as much as the whip slashes on his back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hiccup and Toothless were shoved forward as Astrid came closer. As Johann took the bag from her, Astrid grabbed at one of Hiccup’s hands, pulling him close, and Toothless followed, chain dragging as Krogan let go of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They began walking away, and Hiccup could feel eyes on him, boring into him, and it felt like the arrows were flying through the air, but they weren’t. He was scared. The sooner they got off this island, the better. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once they were a good distance away, Astrid cut the ropes off of Hiccup and the muzzle off of Toothless, then got to work on the dragon’s chains. She hadn’t seen Hiccup’s back yet, but she probably knew he was in pain: he wasn’t really trying to hide it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did they do to you?” Astrid asked once the chains were off Toothless. Hiccup turned his head, saw that Krogan, Johann, and Viggo were still standing there, waiting for them to leave. He didn’t want to show Astrid his back, but he turned, let her see it. There came gasps from not just Astrid, but the rest of the Riders as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll get you fixed up once we’re back to the Edge,” Fishlegs said. “Come on. Let’s go.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just one more thing,” Hiccup said. He met Viggo’s gaze, angrily shouted across the distance, “I wish you’d never been born!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Viggo shook his head. “The feeling is not mutual, my dear.” He took the bag from Johann, looked inside it to see for himself. “Thank you for this generous gift.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hiccup frowned, then mounted Toothless, trying to ignore his pain. He let out a cry though, because oh, it hurt!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Riders took off and Hiccup was overwhelmed with guilt. They’d just lost the war. They’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>lost</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And because he’d been stupid enough to trust Viggo even just a little bit. This was all his fault. The ensuing catastrophe would be his fault. He wanted to cry, but he held in his tears and faced the wind, letting it caress his hair back. It felt good to be on Toothless, to know that he wasn’t actually dying. He’d been so worried, so scared, but that was alleviated. He was on his friend’s back, and he was taking him home. </span>
</p>
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